Every Tuesday, a group of people gathers among the curved pews of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church; they are there not for a service, but to sing. The high-arched ceilings echo with the sounds of shuffling sheet music and the chatter of choir members catching up with their seatmates. People smile and laugh as they talk about their weekends, their work, their families, their newest hobbies, as they take off their coats and settle into the space. Towards the front of the room is a raised stage overlooked by a pipe organ. Two people stand near the centre of the stage, one at a keyboard and the other holding a guitar. They are Claire Butterfield and Oliver Swain. Claire is always smiling. She’s a conductor and is guaranteed to be passionately moving her arms or getting into the fine details of a piece. Oliver is impossible to miss in his signature Zorro-like hat and a mischievous gleam in his eyes. He makes sure the soul of the choral piece is intact, strumming as the choir sings and adding flourishes and punchy emphasis where required. Together, along with all the people in the room, they make up The Village Choir.
Oliver and Claire started The Village Choir in May 2019. It felt like a natural fit for them and a way to give back to their community. Both of them are prolific musicians; Oliver is a JUNO and Western Canadian Music Award Nominee and has years of experience working in Americana, Folk, Jazz, and Rock spaces. He’s also dabbled in choral work as both a guest director and artist. Claire started singing in choirs at the age of 10, and she also plays multiple instruments, including piano, guitar, and violin. Claire was a founding member of harmony-based alternative folk trio Fox Glove for nearly a decade, and more recently, she has started DJ-ing under the moniker Sport Mode. Claire thought about going into choral conducting, but was under the impression she had to get a Master’s in Conducting to fulfil that dream, which wasn’t the right path for her. Then one day, Oliver approached her about starting a choir while they were working on a project together. At first, Claire wasn’t able to commit due to her other endeavours. “But I was persistent,” says Oliver with a grin. He asked her again a year later, and this time she was able to say yes.
Creating a Choral Community
When they initially told people they were starting The Village Choir, a few people said that Victoria didn’t need any more choirs. But Claire and Oliver knew the need was there, that people were craving community and connection through singing.
“Singing with other humans is something that I believe humans are built to do and meant to do with each other,” Claire explains, “We knew there was space for it.”
Now, seven years later, there are about 200 people in The Village Choir ranging from 19 to 85 years old. During breaks and at the beginning of rehearsals, choir members share about fundraisers, protests, and community events. They celebrate together, and they also hold each other through grief and tragedy. Claire emphasizes how the choir is a place where people can experience joy during hard times, but it goes even further. “There’s an element of having it as an emotional outlet to help you process and deal with the things that you’re managing in your life.”
There is something magical about singing with other people. As the harmonies string together and the voices rise and fall in a crescendo and decrescendo, weaving together notes and creating something together out of nothing, it feels powerful.
“Singing together is one of those things, like love, or any act of compassion or kindness, that shows us what our potential is as people together,” Oliver explains, “When we sing together, I think that we’re embodying the best of what it means to be human.”
Learning music and working together to turn it into a song that actually sounds good shows how our individual contributions make a difference when we all come together. This is a part of the community that Oliver and Claire set out to create with The Village Choir. They didn’t know what it would look like in practice, but they are so excited to be a part of the cool community that exists now.
For Claire, “The music is important, but building community and creating joy together, whether that’s through song or just through being together, is an act of resistance in and of itself.”
The Gift of Song
The Village Choir’s impact on the community ripples outwards. They have concerts twice a year, and they take this opportunity to fundraise for the wider community. RAVEN has been lucky enough to be a recipient of their fundraising efforts twice now. On why they chose to support RAVEN’s work, both Claire and Oliver emphasize the importance of equity in the justice system, and how it doesn’t currently exist, and how they’ve seen examples of Indigenous-led litigation making a real impact for Indigenous rights over the past decade or so.
“As settlers, it’s our responsibility to listen, learn, and honour the deep knowledge Indigenous communities hold about living in relationship with the land,” Claire explains, “When we support Indigenous leadership and the causes they champion, we are all better off because caring for the land in sustainable, respectful ways strengthens communities, ecosystems, and our collective future.”
We’re grateful that The Village Choir chose to support RAVEN’s work and for the donations from both concert attendees and choir members themselves.
Everybody has a Voice
So, if you’re interested in joining The Village Choir, or any choir, what advice do Claire and Oliver have for people who may be hesitant to join? Oliver says not to let the fear of pitch or technique not being perfect stop you.
“The individual becomes part of the whole, and the whole always sounds great.” Claire agrees and says, “Everybody has a voice, and everybody is welcome here to bring their voice. Come and give it a try.”
A big thank you to Claire, Oliver, and all the members of The Village Choir for being such incredible RAVEN Champions. Their next concert is on May 30th. You can learn more and get tickets here.
